If a newspaper needed a standing headline to put atop stories about church conferences in most denominations, it might read something like this: "Gay Issue Roils Church Assembly." Such a recurring focus is understandable, because churches are not islands apart from their greater communities, and many wrestle with the implications arising from society's advancing desire to treat gay people equitably.

That issue played out once again when Pittsburgh had the recent honor to host thousands of Methodists from around the world gathered for their general conference, which ended Friday. As it turned out, the news they made was as much about what the delegates decided not to do as what they did.

What the United Methodist Church conference didn't do was start the process of splitting the denomination apart -- and this despite much divisiveness over the issue of sexuality. The delegates reaffirmed the church's principle that homosexual activity is "incompatible with Christian teaching." A majority said again that openly gay people can't be ordained. And the denomination's judicial council said the church's Seattle area bishop could not appoint an active lesbian as a minister.

Although such positions deeply disappointed liberal church members, the reaction was immediate when the suggestion was made that the time had come for the contending parties to amicably go their separate ways. That proposal never made it before the delegates; instead they voted emphatically -- 869 to 41 -- to go on record as saying that the church stands as one.

This was not a glossing over of differences, but an effort to keep love and fellowship alive despite differences. As the Rev. Martha Orphe, district superintendent of 45 churches in the Pittsburgh area, put it: "The church is living in the midst of pain. But we have a greater hope in something other than pain. That's what keeps us from being separated."

It may be that because the traditional views of the majority prevailed on gay issues, most church members did not feel the need to divide the denomination. Schism only became a real threat in the Episcopal Church USA when its General Convention voted last year to approve the confirmation of an openly gay bishop from New Hampshire. (Pittsburgh Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. has emerged as a leader of those who adhere to traditional teachings against homosexuality.)

Of course, every denomination must pick a path guided by its own lights of conscience and belief, and there is no saying that Methodists are wiser in this than Episcopalians. Indeed, the Methodist embrace of unity is no guarantee that the denomination will not split over these same highly charged issues when the next conference comes in four years.

But what was done at the United Methodist Church General Conference in Pittsburgh was nevertheless encouraging. It illustrated -- as in a marriage troubled by a recurring argument -- that a divorce is not the only remedy in a church whose members disagree.